(click to enlarge)
Gance, 1954 (credit: H. Roger-Viollet)

(born Oct. 25, 1889, Paris, France — died Nov. 10, 1981, Paris) French film director and screenwriter. He worked in the cinema from 1909, finally winning acclaim with Mater dolorosa (1917) and Tenth Symphony (1918). His J'accuse (1918) and The Wheel (1923) were hailed as masterpieces. He devoted four years to his greatest film, Napoléon (1927), in which he used experimental techniques to emphasize cinematic movement. Battle sequences were shot with three synchronized cameras, and the images were projected on a triple screen to produce a three-dimensional effect; the film also pioneered the use of stereophonic sound. A triumph in Europe, it fared badly in a harshly edited version in the U.S. but was finally released in its original glory in 1981. Gance's later films, largely controlled by the studios, gave inadequate scope for his creative genius.

For more information on Abel Gance, visit Britannica.com.

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.